Splatoon: The Last Human

Awaken

When I wake up, my first job is to make sure everything isn't covered in water. To make sure the doors were sealed correctly and no form of liquid got inside. I was part of a survey team and we were supposed to see any changes in the environments and the atmosphere. Ever since the flood had happened, we were all put in cryogenic pods to do this job and was ready to see what the future had in store.

I woke up, stretching to get all the bubbles out of my joints. I slowly crawled out of the pod, still feeling stiff as a stick but I still have a job to do, so I pressed on. I started to check for any leakage and any forms of liquid that would screw up the systems, but I didn't think to look inside the pods, they were still frozen, and I didn't want to wake them as each pod had a timer. I didn't know that all the pods were supposed to open the same time I did. Minutes passed, and I got bored waiting around for the pods to open and I decided to survey the outside without them. I grabbed my gear and opened the door by punching in the numbers on the panel, and with a swish, the doors opened.

The sun had become foreign to me. The rays of light had burned my eyes, making me recoil in pain. It only took a few seconds before his vision returned but also came with a gift of warmth. To be frozen for years and to wake up with the sun's embrace is an experience nobody would ever know. As my vision returned, I was surprised to see, not the deep blue seas but land. I saw trees, grass, flowers, and insects. It felt like the flood had never happened and it was only a bad dream. I started to explore the area, watching the trees breeze in the wind, butterflies sit on top of small delightful flowers, and the grass singing in the breeze as if they were near the ocean.

During my exploits, I stopped on top of the hills and noticed that there weren't any animals in sight. I didn't see any herds of deer, no rabbits, no mice, not even wolves, I only saw reptiles, amphibians, avians, and insects. My mind was boggled by this, but I pushed it as pure coincidence, maybe I was just unlucky to see any mammals in the area. I pushed on, ignoring my sadden thoughts.

It took me hours of studying the whole terrain until I accidentally approached a small park. I expected to see algae or moss covering the park, but to my surprise, it was perfectly clean. Well, I wouldn't say "perfectly," it was all covered in graffiti which is strange, the waters should've washed them away but what's even more strange is that the park is untouched by the seas. The park should've rusted or be covered with barnacles. I thought that maybe this was a dream until I saw a humanoid figure sitting on a wooden bench.

I was even more confused "Were there other pods except for ours? Why is this park clean? Why is there no signs of the flood?" all these thoughts were rushing into my head like lightning striking a metal rod. I started thinking about the situation I put myself, but over time I slowly calmed down, "It was only another person, there are probably pods in other places." I thought, mustering up the courage to speak to the individual.

I slowly walked up behind them and noticed something different. They had long "hair" with a somewhat purplish color and seemed to have movement, like some form of liquid slowly flowing off of there head. Their ears are long and sharp looking. This gave me an uneasy feeling. I wanted to step back and run into the forest but my legs wouldn't move. There were many choices but I picked the one that could get me eaten, either way, there was no backing out. With all my courage I gave out a "Hello," but sadly, my voice was a little strained and making it sound profound, this was either from the cryo or fear in this person.

The person jumped at the sound of my voice, as I did the same and they quickly looking behind them and meeting my eyes. I couldn't see her face from behind, but now I can see that she was not human. She had the same features as us, but many things give it away. For one is the "hair," has suckers on the end of them. The other being her eyes. Dark circles form around them as if she was wearing a superhero mask. The last one is her teeth, as she had gasped in surprise, I had a good look at them. Two sharp teeth were at the top like a vampire while one sharp tooth was at the bottom, worsening my fear of the female figure.

We both had a long staring contest before I decided to speak up, "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?" I said, feeling a little sorry for sneaking up on her but also feeling scared, especially with teeth like that. She just stared at me, in confusion of what I just said. "otadiena oidaoi nutine naienu?", Now it was my turn to stare at her with confusion. It would seem we had hit a language barrier and I am guessing she wasn't interested in my flesh. I had tried to come up with a way to speak to each other, but I couldn't find anything to help me translate until it hit me. Why communicate with words when you can interact with pictures. Luckily, I had my survey pen and some papers. I started drawing my apology, and she seemed to catch on the idea surprisingly quick. We both shared pictures with each other, but after the 5th picture was transferred, I noticed that she looks like a kid, probably 12 or 14.

After she gave back the paper with a drawing of a squid, I started to ask "Where are her parents?", I gave her the paper, and she started to draw quickly and gave it back to me. The paper had a drawing of her smiling and waiting with a car driving to her. I guessed that she was getting picked up by her parents if so I didn't want to stay here to get her in trouble for talking to strangers. I got up from the wooden bench and made my way back to the forest. "didenu!", I turned around for the girl to be behind me. She was much shorter when up close, then again she is a child. I noticed she had something in her hand and before I could say anything, she stretched her arms out with my pen in her hands. "nutine dotinodutina nadidanai" she said, even with the barrier, it was easy for me to understand what she said. "You can keep it, I have loads of those anyway," I said, gently pushing the pen away.

I turned back around and walked away, waving the girl goodbye as she waved back. I was happy that day, not only did I meet a new species and not get eaten but I became friends with one as well. I wonder if I'll see her again and I wonder if I'll see more of them and learn about their culture.

The way back to the pods was a long one, but I made it without any troubles. I saw that the pods were still closed but I too tired to care. I was too tired to crawl inside my pod, so I lied near it, shutting my eyes and letting sleep take over.